原书 PDF 第 1378—1380 页
I'm feeling much better since I had operation.
自从做了手术我现在感到好多了。
G. Leech 的《简明英语语法和用法指南》说：“切记: since 出现时, 主句动词必须用完成体。”但是, 上面的主句却用了现在进行时, 这算不算语法错误?
你所提到的这个英语语法规则是有某些例外的。上面的句子便属于例外情况之一。语言学家们，例如 R. Quirk 等对于上面的例外情况是有明确的解释的：当主句指的是某种习惯(habitual reference)时，主句中的谓语动词就可以使用一般现在时或现在进行时：
(Ever) Since we bought that car we go camping every weekend. (CGEL) 自从我们买了那辆汽车以来,我们每个周末都去野营。
I'm doing well since I invested in the money market. (CGEL) 自从我在金融市场投资以来一直都很顺利。
英语语法规定,含有 since 短语的句子或含有 since 从句的主句必须使用完成体,但是,下面的主句却使用了一般现在时。这是怎么回事呢?
My life is entirely different since my divorce.
按照英语语法的一般规则，在含有表时间的 since 从句和 since 介词短语的句子里，其主句通常使用完成体。但是，这条规则有某些例外。例如，当主句中含有静态意义的动词，特别是含有动词 be 和 seem 时，就可以使用非完成体形式，当 be 或 seem 的表语（主语补语）是个表时间的词语（ten weeks, two years）时尤其如此：
Things are different since you have gone. (CGEL) 自从你走以后情况变了。
We are afraid to walk in the park since the woman was killed there. 自从那个女人在公园里被杀之后,我们害怕在公园里散步。
It seems a long time since we last met. (CGEL) 自从我们上次见过面以来似乎过了很长时间。
It's some considerable time since I have spoken to you on these matters. (Snow) 自从我和你谈过这些事以来已经有不少时间了。
It's a long time since I met you last. (Snow) 我们已经分别很久了。
It is just a week since we arrived here. (ALD) 我们到这里刚一个星期。
It was years since I had seen her. (Snow) 自从我上次见过她已经有多年了。
It is almost twenty years since the war ended. 战争结束以后差不多二十年了。
It is a long time since I saw you. (CGEL) 打从我上次见过你已有很长时间了。
当然,在上述情况下,仍然可以使用完成体:
“My uncle comes in from Iran tonight.” “How long has it been since you last saw him?” (TOEFL) “我叔叔今晚从伊朗回来了。” “你们分别后有多长时间了?”
It's been ten years since they were last here. (CGEL) 自从他们上次离开这儿已经有十年了。
It's ages ____ him.
——What was the party like? ——Wonderful. It's years ____ I enjoyed myself so much.
条中的例句)
语法书上说,在含有 since 从句的主句中或含有 since 介词短语的句子中,只能使用完成体形式,而不能使用一般过去时。是这样吗?
在正式英语里一般要求含有 since 从句的主句或含有 since 介词短语的句子使用完成体形式。例如：
They have seen each other often since they met. 他们自从相识以来经常见面。
Since last seeing you I have been ill. 自从上次看到你我就病倒了。
但是,据 R. Quirk 等人的调查研究,在非正式的美国英语里以及在越来越多的非正式英国英语里,人们在含有 since 从句的主句中或含有 since 短语的句子中普遍地使用一般过去时:
I lost ten pounds since I started swimming. 我开始游泳以来减轻了 10 磅。
Since leaving home, Larry wrote to his parents just once. (CGEL) 拉里自从离家以来只给他父母写过一次信。
但是,这一用法尚未得到测试专家们的认可,参见 since $^{4}$ 。
Since 1921 the budget of the United States became the primary responsibility of the President. (A) B C D (TOEFL)
有人告诉我本题的错误是 since 1921,但我不明白 since 1921 有什么错误。since 1921 不是一个很常见的搭配吗?
since 1921 这个介词短语本身并没有错误,但是 since 1921 用在上面的句子里却是错误的,因为句子的谓语动词用的是过去时。在英语里,时间状语的选用与动词时态的选用是有一定限制的。例如,下列时间状语可与动词的过去时并用:
yesterday, last week, the other day, in 1921, two years ago, recently
而下列时间状语可与现在完成时连用：
since 1921 (Monday, last year), so far, up to now, since I last saw you, recently 等等。
这就是说，在正式英语里，since 介词短语可与现在完成时并用，而不能与过去时并用。
since 1921 这个结构用在上面的句子里是错误的,而用在下面的句子里就是正确的了:
Jekyll Island has been one of Georgia's state parks since 1954. (TOEFL) 从 1954 年起吉基尔岛就是乔治亚州的公园之一。
We have lived in New York since 1980. (CGEL) 从 1980 年起我们就住在纽约。
I haven't been home since 1927. (Galsworthy) 自从 1927 年以来我就没在家呆过。
I've been living in Greece since 1976. (PEU) 自从 1976 年以来我一直住在希腊。
It's been a long time since I've seen you. It's been nearly a year, hasn't it? (Caldwell) 分别很久了。差不多有一年了吧？
Since 1988 developing countries in south and east Asia have overtaken the Middle East in purchase of weapons... (Financial Times) 自从 1988 年以来,东南亚发展中国家在购买武器方面超过了中东……
“高中英语课本第一册137页有这样一句话: It had been fifteen years since she left! 我不理解为什么这句话的主句用过去完成时, 而从句用过去时, 好像换成: It was fifteen years since she had left! 合适些。您说对吗?”（转引自《英语难题解答400则》）
《英语难题解答400则》(p.199)已经对这个问题作了回答。我们将用另一种完全不同的方法进行回答。
A. 当 since 表示从过去的一个时间点延续至说话的现在时, 通常要求主句使用动词的现在完成时, 而要求 since 从句使用一般过去时:
We've been friends ever since we left school. (LASED) 自从我们毕业以来我们一直是朋友。
Since I was a child I have lived in England. (Shaw) 我从童年时起就一直住在英国。
It has been about forty years since a person could turn in paper money and get gold for it. 大约已有40年人们不再能在银行里用纸币换黄金了。
但是,当主句的谓语动词为 be 或 seem 时,则主句可以采用动词的一般现在时,当 be 与表示时间的词语连用时,尤其是如此:
It's a long time since I met you last. (Snow) 我们已经分别很久了。
It seems a long time since we last met. (CGEL) 自从我们上次见面以来似乎过了很长时间了。
那么，从句的动词时态是不是只能采用一般过去时呢？并不是这样。从句中的动词时态分两种情况：当 since 从句所指的是主句事件发生的起点时，从句通常使用一般过去时，如前面的例(1)和例(2)；当 since 从句所指的是一直持续到现在的一段时间时，从句通常使用现在完成时：
I haven't seen you since I've been back. (Hemingway) 我回来以后一直没有见到你。
Since they have lived in London, they have been increasingly happy. (CGEL) 自从他们住到伦敦以来，他们越来越高兴。（他们现在仍在伦敦。）
He has never been to see me since I have been ill. (Wood) 自从我有病以来他一次也没来看我。(我现在仍在病中。)
如果主句为 时间词语结构，则主句仍然可以用一般现在时：
It's some considerable time since I have spoken to you on these matters. (Snow) 自从我和你说过这些事以来已经有不少时间了。
这样,对于我们所讨论的情况,主句与从句的时态便有四种不同的组合(例句如上):
a) 主句现在完成时 + 从句一般过去时
b) 主句一般现在时 + 从句一般过去时
c) 主句现在完成时 + 从句现在完成时
)主句一般现在时 从句现在完成时
B. 当主句所表示的情境属于过去时,也就是说 since 从句所涉及的情境不是延伸到现在,而是从过去的某个时间点延伸到另一个过去的时间点时,主句一般采用过去完成时。但是,可以用一般过去时来代替过去完成时,当主句为 be+ 时间词语的结构时,尤其如此:
Two weeks had passed since Martin had seen him. (London) 马丁看见他以后已过去两周了。
Since the country had achieved independence, it had revised its constitution twice. (CGEL) 自从这个国家独立以来，已经两次修改了宪法。
It was years since I had seen her. (Snow) 我和她见过面以后有好几年了。
Since mother died he was very lonely. (Dreiser) 自他妈妈去世之后他一直很孤独。
在这种情况下, since 从句既可以使用过去完成时, 也可以使用一般过去时:
Since Jennie had left Martha had married. (Dreiser) 自从珍妮离开后,玛莎就结婚了。
Since she came to me, we had been happy. (Snow) 自从她来到我这里,我们都很高兴。
Since he knew her, she was a journalist. 从他认识她的时候起，她就是个新闻工作者。不难看出，在这里，主句与从句的时态也有四种组合：
a) 主句过去完成时 + 从句过去完成时 (例句 1,2,5)
b) 主句过去时 + 从句过去完成时(例句 3)
c) 主句过去完成时 + 从句过去时(例句 6)
)主句过去时 从句过去时(例句4,7)
很容易发现,这四种组合是前四种组合的时态前移,即一般现在时前移为一般过去时,现在完成时前移为过去完成时。例如:
It is years since I saw you. 自从我上次见过你已有好几年了。
It was years since I had seen you.
由此可以证明,高中英语课本中的句子 It had been fifteen years since she left! 是完全正确的。你将它改为 It had been (或 was) fifteen years since she had left! 也是完全正确的。
They asked me to have a drink with them. I said that it was at least ten years since I ____ a good drink.
A. had enjoyed B. was enjoying C. enjoyed D. had been enjoying(全国高考)
正确答案为 A(had enjoyed)。但是我认为 C(enjoyed) 也是正确的。
关于 since 从句的动词的时态, CGEL 作了明确的说明:
“When the whole period is placed in past time, the past perfective or the simple past is used in the since-clause.” (CGEL, p. 1018) “当整个时间段位于过去时间时, since 从句可使用过去完成时或过去时。”下面是我们收集到的 since 从句使用动词过去时的例句：
Since the country (had) achieved independence, it (had) revised its constitution twice. (CGEL) 自从国家独立以来,已经两次修改了宪法。
It was ages since they last paid their bills on time. (CGEL) 自从他们上次按时付清账单以来,已经过了很长时间了。
上面的高考题,如果选 C(enjoyed),则其结构与例(2)完全相同。可见,选 C 是完全正
确的。
(参见